The present invention relates to a system for moving a robot manipulator or an industrial robot under utilization of a track system which includes longitudinal carriers and supports as well as lifting structure having load bearing capabilities.
Generally speaking the invention pertains to equipment of the kind shown e.g. in to U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,111. Further reference is made to a German patent 35 04 233. In these systems a lifting column or support structure is provided in such a system for being moved in a three dimensional array of positions. The support structure furnishes the two-dimensional positioning, the lifting/lowering of a manipulator adds to it the third dimension.
The particular lifting or lowering post has a gripping device and its movements are limited through the support structures arranged under or ahead of a carrier system which means that it must be designed in oversized dimensions to cover all parts that have to be reached. In simple terms, one has to cope in this fashion with the fact that physical structure gets in the way of mobile parts that are provided to reach any point in a given column space. That space must be reachable without obstruction and exactly that is the problem of support. The working range of the robot is therefore limited by these structures to the range covered by the support.
Of course the support in terms of longitudinal carriers, transverse rails, rail support etc. including the connection can be made i.e. constructed in terms of overall architecture in a variety of ways. Unfortunately this seems to preclude standardization. The manufacture of seemingly standardized parts still ends up with an unduly large inventory. In particular it seems that the structures are not of the kind which could be deemed a building block system from which one can assemble a variety of different systems along which and by means of which the robot can move. The invention serves as a remedy to this deplorable situation.